Windows 11 still not winning the OS popularity contest
Microsoft releases out of box experience update to simplify and speed up migrations
Paul Kunert
Mon 5 Dec 2022 // 15:03 UTC
Microsoft has released an out-of-band update to nudge laggards toward Windows 11 amid a migration pace that company executives would undoubtedly prefer is rather faster.
The software giant is offering an option of upgrading to Windows 11 as an out of box experience to its Windows 10 22H2 installed base, the main aim being to smooth their path forward to the latest operating system.
"On November 30, 2022, an out-of-band update was released to improve the Windows 10, version 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2 out-of-box experience (OOBE). It provides eligible devices with the option to upgrade to Windows 11 as part of the OOBE process. This update will be available only when an OOBE update is installed."
The update, KB5020683, applies only to Windows 10 Home and Professional versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 22H2. There are some pre-requisites that Microsoft has listed here before users can make the move to Windows 11.
The operating system was released on October 5 last year but shifting stubborn consumers onto this software has proved challenging for top brass at Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
According to Statcounter, a web analytics service that has tracking code installed on 1.5 million websites and records a page view for each, some 16.12 percent of Windows users had installed Windows 11 in November, higher than the 15.44 percent in the prior month, but likely still not close to the figures that Microsoft was hoping for.
Back to the oldiesAt the same time, Windows 10 slipped below the 70 percent mark to 69.77 percent. But Windows 7 actually gained share month-on-month, rising to 10.24 percent from 9.61 percent, as did Windows 8.1, growing to 2.54 percent from 2.45 percent. Windows 8 was also up to 0.79 percent from 0.64 percent and Windows XP edged up to 0.4 percent.
It'll surprise no one that Windows remains the dominant desktop OS of choice by a country mile, with a market share of 75.09 percent. Apple's OS X remained in second spot with 15.63 percent, and Linux took 2.77 percent of the pie, with others, including FreeBSD, sitting well back.
Adoption of Windows 11 is touted by some PC makers to drive a refresh cycle next year, with businesses generally holding off on deploying the latest OS until around 18 months after launch. ®
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